Obesity Gene and Breast Cancer Linked

New research aimed to better identify the genetic factors that lead to breast cancer has uncovered a link between the fat mass and obesity associated gene (FTO) and a higher incidence of breast cancer. Virginia Kaklamani, from Northwestern Memorial Hospital (Illinois, USA), and colleagues, have found that people who possess a variant of the FTO gene have up to a 30% greater chance of developing breast cancer.  Each individual carries the FTO gene, but only 18% have this variant of the gene. Reporting that: “A significant expression of FTO [occurs] in malignant and normal breast tissue and that FTO [single nucleotide polymorphisms] in intron 1 are significantly associated with breast cancer risk,” the researchers submit that: “These FTO [single nucleotide polymorphisms] are powerful classifiers in predicting breast cancer risk.”